Bol is the only coastal town on the south side of the island. It has a spectacular setting. It is far more isolated than the northern parts of the island and abounds in beaches of white pebbles.
The most beautiful, the largest and best known of these is Zlatni rat, the Golden Point, extending almost half a kilometre into the sea. This famous Bol beach is as supple as liquid gold. Its tip changes its shape all the time, inclining to one side or the other according to the winds and currents. Zlatni rat, with its exceptional form and elegance, has become the hallmark of Bol and the whole island of Brač, and is increasingly recognized as a quality symbol of Croatian tourism.
The town of Bol, together with a line of old pine trees, extends to the very edge of the crystal clear sea. The mountainous wreath of the Bolska kruna, Kaštilo with its Illyrian hill-fort and Mt Vidova gora rise steeply, high above the town. Marks of habitation here go back to ancient times. Above the Golden Point beach, the remains of a Roman water basin (piscine) have been found within the complex of a large villa rustica. Roman tombstones have also survived, and sarcophagi with engraved crosses assert the continuity of life from late Roman times until the early Middle Ages. After that cultural and historical monuments and buildings became ever more numerous. The name Bol derived from the Latin vallu(m) (= “fosse”, “earthen wall”, “a settlement fortified by earth”). The Latin vallum has the same meaning as the Early Croatian notion of shore (meaning ”dam”, “embankment”). It is interesting to notice that even today the names of Gornja and Donja obala (Upper and Lower Shore) are still used.
On the headland of Glavica, in the eastern part of the town, there is a shrine more than a thousand years old. The Dominican monastery was built there in 1475, and there are valuable Renaissance and Baroque paintings in its church of Our Lady of Grace, that of The Virgin and Saints from the school of Tintoretto is especially interesting. Next to the church, there is one of the most attractive monastery museums in the Adriatic. In the immediate vicinity of the monastery, the small church of SS John and Theodore is one of the most interesting pre-Romanesque Brač churches.
The Gothic summer house near the breakwater, the Loggia, the church of St Anthony, a Renaissance-Baroque mansion, the piazzeta, the Baroque parish church and the Castle (once a fortified building) form the central urban structure of Bol. These buildings have been unobtrusively incorporated among the houses of original folk architecture, making with them a unique harmonious whole. The Branko Dešković Gallery, in a Renaissance-Baroque building, is an important display of Croatian modern art by sculptures and painters born on Brač, or who lived on the island permanently or temporarily, and specialises in works inspired by the sea and sun, light and colours of the Brač and the Mediterranean landscape.
Bol used to be mainly a settlement of winegrowers, fishermen and seamen (the first Dalmatian wine-growing cooperative was established there), but today it is a first-class tourist resort. It provides very rich accommodation facilities in hotels, villas, apartments and other kinds of accommodation. The tourist facilities of Bol are based on a broad range of services, but the emphasis is on the originality of experience of the region and the specific traits of its southern landscape.
The annual Bol Summer has a varied programme, among the most interesting performances are produced in the House in a House, which retain a traditional atmosphere and a folk character.
